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We failed 3 SH tests, the first 2 we failed because of not stopping the dog soon enough on a mark when it was starting to return to an old fall, and then not handling all the way to the bird. The other we failed for breaking on the honor. SLOW DOWN when handling and pay attention to line manners in training. You can never have a good enough sit.

I failed one Senior because the yellow dog broke on honor. Should have failed one because the black dog sat on the walk up about 10 yards before I stopped and the judges signaled for the bird, I was in great position at this point to be blocking his line of sight for the go bird. Luckily, he runs great blinds and the judges were very lenient and let me "earn" the ribbon on the water.

Here is a hint on running blinds - put 2 fingers up at arm's length and look at the blind - keep the dog between your fingers.

Gooser - is that the test where you yelled "SIT" when she was ignoring the whistle???

I would say failing more than one mark out of the four and really bad blinds. I remember seeing dogs pass with what I considered bad blinds, but there is a limit to what the judges will pass. I would thing that if you had to handle twice over the course of two series you would fail. I'm surprised at your 99% statistic, I would have expected a lower pass rate. Not to bragg but I never failed one, I still don't think there is anything close to a 99% pass rate.

John

I'm certain the passing percentage changes by region. I believe the pass rate in my region has been trending at 70%.

St. Thomas, the great doctor and theologian, warns about the proper use of animals, lest they appear at the final Judgment against us: and God himself will take vengeance on all who misuse his creatures.

I ran an 11 month old in her first SH test years ago. First series was 80 yard bird at 1 o clock and then a flier station at 10 o clock. Plenty of separation and even some brush cover between the two marks. Come out of the holding blind, signal ready. Right bird goes out and she marks it fine. Flier station quacks, throws bird, and proceeds to fire 3 rapid shots...all missing the bird. Now we had not trained on live fliers and she was shaking with excitement. The judge called no bird and I leashed her up. He asked if I would like to rerun the series right now or slide back a few dogs. I made the mistake of not rerunning her instantly. About 4 dogs later we come back out. Right bird fine, flier thrown and shot this time. She is goes out and picks up the flier no problem. I tried to line her up on the right hand ,memory bird and she kept fighting me wanting to look back at the flier station. Mistake #2 on my part was rushing. I should have slowed way down and let her stare at it all she wanted while telling her no bird and heeling her back to the right.

But I sent her the first instant she looked at the memory bird even though her whole body wasn't aligned to it. She was essentially lying to me and I bought it. She ran 15 yards on the correct line and made a 90 degree turn back to the flier station. I blew a long and LOUD sit whistle which she obeyed. I gave her a literal cast back and right which she took and then proceeded to curl around back to the left toward the flier station. I yelled "NO! HERE!" and proceeded to sprint out into the field to meet her as she slunk back toward me. I leashed her up and said thanks to the judges on my way past.

What did I learn? Dogs need to see fliers in training to be prepared for it. Also, when things start going bad SLOW WAY DOWN. That dog ended up passing her next 2 senior tests and then we skipped right to master.

This thread is helping me in training. These are practical experiences that I apply in training. Crisis management. GREAT GREAT stories of how handlers would have "Done things differently". Slow down. Train with fliers. Work obedience. Honor breaking drills. 2 finger rule for blinds. Keep it coming. I read this thread like I should read the Bible.

This thread is helping me in training. These are practical experiences that I apply in training. Crisis management. GREAT GREAT stories of how handlers would have "Done things differently". Slow down. Train with fliers. Work obedience. Honor breaking drills. 2 finger rule for blinds. Keep it coming. I read this thread like I should read the Bible.

I would hazard a guess that for dogs not entered before they can do the work, the majority of failures come down to (i) does sit really mean sit, even under hunt test conditions? (ii) Will your dog move with you on the line, even after he has looked out there and found the magical yellow crate?

I can say, with absolute confidence, that we failed our first 4 Senior tests because of HANDLER ERROR! It's amazing all the training you forget and that your trainer has beaten in to you, when you step up to that Senior line the first couple of times. That happens the first time you run master too!!

What would I do differently? I'm not sure I'd do anything differently. I learned so much from those first runs in senior and master, the HARD way, that they have stuck in my brain. If nothing else...the one thing I ALWAYS have to remember is:

SLOW DOWN!

When we get nervous/panicked/etc....we tend to speed up on the whistle and casts and screw things up!

I've judged quite a few SH tests. I would estimate that of all the failures 75% or better were for control issues. Most of the rest are for poor perseverance (switching, returning to an old fall). The tests and trials have done a great job of selecting for good markers in all the breeds. It is pretty rare to see a dog go out on poor marking nowadays, unless the judges have a bird that is not clearly visible to the dogs or fail to call a no bird when they should have.-Paul

I am in agreement with Paul, having judged Senior also. Handler errors of not watching the dogs (eyes or head) to make sure the dog see the birds go down or setting the dog up to see the marks before signaling also comes into play quite often. Another problem is running to many back to back tests. It took me about a year to finish Wilma SH last weekend. We only ran 1 test per weekend, and having skipped JH had to run 5 tests. She went 5/5